Typical upper body protective garments usually include numerous pads such as shoulder pads, upper arm pads and front and back plates, which are flexibly interconnected such as to be retained over the body of the wearer. The pads generally include an outer, impact protecting rigid layer and an inner more flexible cushioning layer integral to the outer layer. During play, the inner cushioning layer tends to become dirty, for example by absorbing sweat, and quickly becomes malodorous. However, the outer rigid layer generally renders the protective garment bulky and hard to manipulate for cleaning purposes, for example preventing the protective garment from being machined washable. As such, the entire protective garment must be changed when the inner cushioning layer becomes too dirty and/or malodorous for use.
Accordingly, improvements are desirable.